Channel Firing (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Hardy
- First Published: 1914
- Type of Work: Narrative
- Genres: Poetry, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: 1910’s, God, England or English people, Violence, War, Christianity, World War I, Afterlife, Tombs or graves, Cemeteries
The Poem
The title refers to the firing of naval guns on the English Channel, guns apparently engaging in a military exercise. The poem registers a complex response to this event, using nine stanzas, each a quatrain set in an abab rhyme scheme, one of the most common forms of English poetry.
In “Channel Firing,” Thomas Hardy uses the first-person plural, though the “We” might be thought of as a single individual speaking for his companions as well as for himself. The “We” are all dead and buried in a graveyard situated beside a church. This location is...
[The entire page is 1464 words long]
